There's never a dull moment in wildlife photography. Sometimes the most marvelous things happen when you least expect them. When my wife and I moved into our new home here in West Ouachita Parish 30 years ago we had a bee tree in the edge of our yard. While clearing land the tree was disturbed and it died. The bees moved on. There has been a drought of honeybees in our area from what I have heard. I know I have seen very few each year in my garden. I was on my ATV pulling a trailer and picking up fallen limbs on our property just above my house today(23 March, 2007). All of a sudden I was in a swarm of honeybees. I was glad to find that they were not the "Africanized type" or I know I would have been in trouble. I hurried to get my camera as I saw them swarm on one tree and then another. Two swarms had attached themselves to the trees. It appeared they had located in two separate holes on two adjacent trees, one almost on the ground and the largest swarm in the largest oak tree on the lot. I photographed the large swarm from quite a distance(bottom picture) and was able to get up close and personal with the smaller swarm(top picture) near the ground. The bees in the smaller swarm were all over the ground, on the side of the tree, and going in and out of the hole near the ground. I am not certain if there is one queen or two. I am not versed in honeybees but it would be great to have two hives for the gardens in our area. I was amazed that I could photograph the swarm at a distance of 2-3 feet and they were not bothered. I was careful not to pose a threat and they just went about their business and I was glad because I had no protection on my body accept my work clothes. Just another day of marvels in God's creation and the life of the wildlife photographer.
